ACEH, INDONESIA // An elderly Christian woman has been caned in Aceh province in Indonesia for selling alcohol, the first time a non-Muslim has been punished there under Sharia law.
The 60 year old was struck nearly 30 times with a rattan cane before a crowd of hundreds in Aceh on Tuesday, an official said, along with a couple who were subjected to 100 lashes for committing adultery.
Aceh is the only province in the world’s largest Muslim country that applies Sharia law, and public canings for breaches of Islamic code happen on a regular basis and often attract massive crowds.
Those caught engaging in adultery, same-sex relationships, drinking and even associating with unmarried members of the opposite sex can end up facing the cane.
Though the law once only applied to Muslims, a by-law that took effect late last year allowed Sharia regulations to be applied to non-Muslims in certain situations, Lili Suparli, a senior official at the Central Aceh prosecutor’s office said.
“This is the first case of a non-Muslim being punished under Islamic criminal by-law,” he said, referring to the punishment of the Christian woman.
Aceh began implementing Sharia law after being granted special autonomy in 2001, an effort by the central government in Jakarta to quell a long-running separatist insurgency.
* Agence France-Presse
